"Lemmy!"

Ludwig could barely believe the scene unfolding in front of him. Iggy collapsed to the ground, clutching Lemmy's body tightly. It was too late, though. He was already gone.

Ludwig clenched his fists tightly. As he bit his lip, tears streamed down his hot cheeks. His brain was a cauldron of emotions. This felt like a nightmare. This shouldn't be happening. This was wrong.

"Marie!"

Ludwig jumped. The last one he'd expected to react this way was one of the two strangers. They'd just shown up out of nowhere. Ludwig wasn't even sure it was right to trust them.

"You wish to speak, traitor?" Marie crooned, "Go ahead. I'm listening."

"Traitor?" Ludwig repeated, brow furrowing. Said "traitor", however, was livid, their face bright red and their teeth grit.

"59757961."

"What?" the "traitor" snapped, turning back to their partner.

"You still have that old rag doll with you too, I see..." Marie pointed out as she directed her gaze to the other, who shrank back under her scrutiny. Just then, Iggy screamed once again, throwing himself at Marie, knives unsheathed and ready to kill. Marie, however, lunged back to avoid his first strike before charging with astounding speed to drill her fist into his stomach. Iggy yelped as he was thrown back toward his siblings, tumbling to the ground at their feet. Ludwig couldn't help but shudder by this point.

"I suppose I should deal with the rabble," Marie stated, rubbing the hand she'd punched Iggy with.

"Marie," Ludwig snapped, stepping forward, "You won't get away with this. For the rest of your miserable existence, we will hunt you down and we will make sure you pay for this."

"Right," Morton said, stepping up beside Ludwig, "You're not getting away with this."

Wendy and Larry nodded as well.

"You've got the wrath of the entire Koopa Kingdom coming your way," Ludwig finished, drawing a finger across his throat in a slashing motion, "You're finished."

Marie scoffed, letting out a slight chuckle.

"Of course," she said, "Good luck with that."

Before any of them could comment further, Marie snapped her fingers. Ludwig immediately felt something like a punch to the gut and the sensation of his body flying through the air. He yelped, shutting his eyes tightly as he spiralled through dead space before slamming back-first into something hard and wooden. He let out a choked cry, then groaned as he tried to regain himself.

That was when he opened his eyes.

He gasped. This was Larry's bedroom in Bowser's Castle. What he'd just slammed into was Larry's dresser. Looking around, he saw that Larry, Wendy, Morton, and Iggy had all been sent back as well. They were here and they were completely healed. Ludwig looked down at his own hands. There were no more stitches; no more scars.

"We're...home…"

Wendy was the first to speak, her voice quiet and nervous. She was obviously hesitant to speak. Ludwig knew why.

"Lemmy…" Iggy moaned, his head hung.

Ludwig pushed himself to his feet, using the dresser as support. His entire body felt heavy. It was almost difficult to breathe.

Just then, two portals tore open above them. Ludwig yelped, scrambling out of the way just before Roy slammed into the dresser as well, splintering the wood on impact. Junior appeared not a second later, hitting the bed right next to Wendy.

Marie really did keep her word.

Ludwig grit his teeth, backing away from Roy.

"What happened?" Junior groaned, sitting up, "What happened to Mar…"

That was when Junior caught sight of his adopted siblings. He yelped, scrambling back and falling directly off the bed.

"Junior!" Wendy yelped.

"Ghosts!" Junior yelled, "You're ghosts!"

"We're not ghosts!" Wendy retorted.

"How much do you remember?" Morton called to Junior.

"Whaddya mean how much do I remember?!" Junior shouted, "Am I having some weird dream?!"

Ludwig then noticed Roy start to try to push himself up off the floor. Ludwig stepped back, still leery of what Roy might do. The others nervously shifted back as well.

"I'm…"

That was as far as he got before he looked up and noticed his siblings. He gasped sharply, tensing up.

"R-Roy?!" Junior yelped, "Don't hurt me!"

"It wasn't a dream…" Roy muttered, his face growing pale.

"Roy…" Larry started quietly, quickly trailing off before actually saying anything.

"Let's kick him out," Iggy spat.

"I'm calling the guards!" Junior yelped.

"Hold on!" Roy shouted, "Stop!"

"Guys, stop!" Larry butted in, "Let's at least hear him out!"

"Are you insane?!" Junior retorted, "He's gonna kill us!"

"No I'm not!" Roy cried, "You gotta believe me! Please!"

Ludwig pursed his lips. As much animosity as he held toward Roy…

"We'll hear him out," Ludwig said, "It wouldn't be right to Lemmy not to."

Roy suddenly jumped, looking over his siblings again.

"Wait. Where's Lemmy?"

"You have two minutes," Ludwig snapped to keep Roy on topic, "Start talking."

Roy let out a shaky breath, sitting back against the dresser.

"I...don't know what happened."

"Great start," Wendy said sarcastically.

"Okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but...there was this weirdo chick that made me-I mean she...I…"

"Marie, you mean?"

Roy's eyes widened at Ludwig's mention of the name.

"You know her?"

"What do you mean?" Wendy butted in, "We all do."

"Wait, we met her too!" Bowser Jr. piped up, "She works with Roy, right?!"

"Hold on," Roy interjected, "I didn't work with her. I barely knew her."

"Sure," Ludwig groaned, "Not like you were directly aligned with her or anything."

"I'm serious!" Roy snapped, "I don't know what she did to me, but she made me swallow this stupid...I don't even know what it was, and it messed with my head!"

"Swallow?" Larry piped up.

"She showed up after...that thing with Larry happened," Roy started, grimacing, "She tried to get me to agree to kill you guys."

Roy then clenched his fists tightly.

"I didn't accept."

"You know who you are, Roy," Marie went on, "You know what you are. This will be easy for you. Just let your worries go and everything will be fine."

Roy didn't speak.

"I'll help you," Marie said, "With my help, you'll stand on top of the world."

Marie then drew closer again, a strange black object in her hand. Roy clenched his teeth.

"No."

Marie stopped short, shock evident.

"No?"

"I can't do it," Roy stated firmly, "I won't do it. I won't kill anyone and there's no way you're gonna make me."

Marie stood still for a moment. Then, to Roy's surprise, she started chuckling.

"Ah, Roy…" she crooned, turning the black object over in her hands, "I was giving you the choice to stay sane. Where killing them is concerned…

...you don't have a choice."

"What are you talking about?!" Ludwig snapped, "You killed us! That wasn't someone else! That was you!"

"That thing she forced on me messed with my head!" Roy defended himself, "My brain got all cloudy and I couldn't stop being angry! I don't even remember anything after a certain point!"

"When was that?" Larry asked curiously.

"I kinda snapped out of it for a bit," Roy explained, "The whole thing is kinda blurry and I don't remember the exact order everything happened in...but I think it happened twice."

Ludwig's brow quirked. He still was hesitant to believe Roy's story, but he was curious where Roy was taking this.

"I think that black thing messed with my memories," Roy continued, "but I remember being here in the castle…with you guys…"

"Wait," Ludwig interjected, "You're not saying you were here after you killed Larry, are you?"

"I didn't kill him," Roy snapped, "I was here after he died though. Somehow...I think we died twice."

Ludwig's eyes suddenly lit up. He'd heard this before.

"What do you mean 'we died twice'?" Wendy asked, "Th-that's not possible."

"It was two completely different events," Roy responded, "I know it was. The first time was here and then we went back. That's how I remember it."

"I believe him."

"Huh?!" Wendy exclaimed, whirling around to face Ludwig.

"Go on," Ludwig said. Roy looked astonished as well, hesitating a moment before continuing.

"My brain was less foggy here at the castle," Roy said, "but whatever was in my head was altering my memories."

"The parasite," Junior spoke up in realization.

"Yeah," Roy said, "That's what I called it when I could speak with my right mind. It made me think it had always been there but…"

"It wasn't?" Ludwig finished.

"Yeah," Roy replied, "It'd almost take over my body whenever I was around you guys. It made me...it…"

"It made you kill us," Morton finished, closing his eyes.

"But then Lemmy and Junior…" Roy trailed off again. It was obvious he was having trouble speaking.

"I remember," Junior said, "Lemmy showed me where Ludwig's body was; at papa's private wing. They were talking really weird with each other. I didn't even know what was going on at the time, but then Lemmy hugged Roy and I ran. I didn't even really know what happened until Lemmy told us later."

"Wait, why don't any of us remember being here?" Wendy asked.

"Who knows?" Morton said.

"All I know is that I ran after that," Roy said, "I was back in my right mind for longer than I'd been and I ran but it wasn't over yet. She came back."

"Marie?"

"Her," Roy answered Ludwig, "I was hiding...and she found me."

"You!"

Roy vaulted to his feet as Marie strode into view.

"Hello again, Roy," she cooed, her voice making him sick, "How have you been doing?"

"What did you do to me?!" Roy roared, "I know this is your fault!"

"You flatter me," Marie said, stepping closer. Roy clenched his fists.

"Make it stop," Roy growled, "Take this thing out of my head."

"I saw what you did to your siblings. You did an excellent job."

"Make it stop!" Roy shouted, "Make it stop already!"

"I decided to take a cue or two from you," Marie said, producing Roy's phone from her pocket, "I hope that's all right."

Roy's eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.

"How did you get that?! Give that back!"

Marie giggled, tossing the phone to Roy. Roy fumbled to catch it before his eyes caught what was displayed on the screen.

"Thank you for everything, Lemmy. Goodbye."

Roy gawked, scrolling back through the text conversation. It was an entire conversation with Lemmy where someone pretending to be Roy had implied…

His stomach churned.

"Wh-what the heck is this?"

"It's time for phase two, Roy," Marie replied, "We're not nearly done yet."

"No!" Roy yelled, "I'm not doing anything for you! Screw that!"

"You really are acting just like him right now," Marie chuckled, "Is that really you in there?"

Before Roy could even begin to question what Marie was talking about, she pulled a diamond-shaped knife out of her pocket. Roy's heart dropped.

"I'll see you on the other side, Roy."

"She what?!"

"She killed me," Roy answered Wendy, "That messed with my memories too. When I came to, I was back in that other world with you guys and I didn't remember anything that happened here."

"Marie," Ludwig snarled.

"Things only got foggier from there. That thing in my head was messing me up more. I started blacking out a lot. I know for the most part what happened, but it was like I was barely in control."

"And that's when you killed us all in the other world," Morton interjected.

"Y-yeah," Roy answered through grit teeth, "Except Lemmy almost broke me out of it again."

"Lemmy…" Iggy whispered.

"He nearly gave up. That snapped me out of it," Roy explained, "I suddenly regained control of my body again, but it was only a few seconds. After that, I lost it. I don't remember anything that happened after that."

"Nothing?" Wendy asked.

"Nothing," Roy reiterated, "From there, everything's blank."

"Lemmy said that Roy was possessed," Larry said, "I saw it myself too. I didn't really know it, but Lemmy did."

"What happened to Lemmy?" Roy asked sternly, "Why isn't he here?"

That was when everyone fell silent. No one wanted to be the first to tell Roy why Lemmy wasn't there.

"Roy…"

Ludwig was the first to speak up, but he hesitated, gritting his teeth.

"I...I'm…"

He had to practically force the words out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

Roy gasped, his attention fully fixed on Ludwig at this point.

"I'm sorry for what I said," Ludwig continued, "I'm sorry for what I did."

Roy was silent for a moment. Ludwig closed his eyes tightly.

"I don't deserve to be forgiven," Ludwig said, "I...I genuinely thought you-"

"Why are you apologizing, jerk?"

Ludwig snapped to attention again, staring directly at Roy.

"Don't make this about you," Roy snapped, stray tears rolling from under his sunglasses, "I'm the one that killed you guys twice. I'm the one that needs to feel like a worthless monster that can't be forgiven, dang it. Don't you dare try to make me feel like you need it more."

Ludwig was taken aback by Roy's response. He was speechless for a moment, trying to process what was even going on.

"Now where the heck is Lemmy?" Roy finished.

"Gone."

Both Roy and Ludwig jumped, turning to Iggy.

"What?" Roy muttered.

"He's gone."

Ludwig pursed his lips. Roy, though, was still confused.

"What does that-?"

"He's gone!" Iggy snapped, his face contorting to an expression of rage, "He sacrificed himself for you!"

Roy froze, his muscles tensing.

"H-he what?!"

"You were dying," Ludwig explained, "Marie promised she could save your life and send all of us back here if Lemmy let her kill him."

"So he let himself die for you!" Iggy screeched, "You don't even deserve to be here after what you did to him!"

"Iggy, stop it!" Larry shouted.

"Shut up!" Iggy screamed, "You barely know who he is! Lemmy deserved to live more than Roy! Lemmy should be here right now! Roy should've been the one that died!"

"Iggy, shut up!" Ludwig snapped, "What's done is done! None of us can change it now!"

"I'll never forgive you, Roy!" Iggy declared, vaulting to his feet and shooting Roy a venomous glare, "Get out of this castle and never come back!"

"We're not throwing him out, Iggy!" Ludwig argued.

"I'm not living in the same house as him!" Iggy spat, "If he's not leaving, I am!"

"Don't be stupid, Iggy!" Wendy shouted, "You're being ridiculous!"

"Oh, you'll think I'm so ridiculous when Roy kills you all in your sleep!" Iggy snapped, storming for the door.

"Iggy, that's enough!" Ludwig demanded.

"I hate all of you!" Iggy screamed, turning back as he threw open the door, "I'd rather all of you died than Lemmy! In fact, I hope you do!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Iggy slammed the door behind him. An anxious silence pervaded after that. Ludwig could barely follow what had just happened.

The reality of the situation hit him in that moment.

Lemmy was dead...

All of them had just come back to life...

Larry had no memories...

Iggy had just left for good...

And now they were going to have to try to explain to the entire world that Roy was possessed by some being from another world when he murdered thousands of innocent people.

He was beginning to feel lightheaded.

"Well," Wendy spoke up timidly, being the first to break the silence, "What do we do now?"

Ludwig exhaled shakily, closing his eyes.

"The only thing we can do...Talk to King Dad…"

Ludwig sighed, flopping onto his bed.

Being home didn't feel nearly as good as it should have felt.

He turned over, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It had been another long day of trying to work with Professor Gadd to try to find a way back to Marie's world. So far, everything they'd tried had been utterly fruitless. The coordinates Junior said Lemmy had left for them weren't working anymore. It was like that world had disappeared, never to return.

Ludwig grit his teeth. If they couldn't find their way back to that world, they'd never be able to avenge Lemmy's death. They'd never be able to bring Marie to justice.

Of course, that was the least of their troubles.

Their first talks with their father hadn't gone well. At first, he was too shocked to believe that his children had somehow come back to life. He hadn't believed the "other world" talk at all, even when Junior intervened on their behalf. They were lucky to get Roy out of being executed again. Instead, he resided in the castle dungeon. They'd tried to get him out several times, but Roy almost seemed to believe he deserved it.

On top of that was the fact that they still couldn't find Iggy either. Wherever he'd gone off to, he was hiding himself well. Bowser had even issued a full-on search effort for him, but nothing had come of it.

Ludwig let a growl escape his lips. Sure, they'd gotten home, but was the cost even worth it? One sibling dead, another imprisoned, another completely stripped of his memories, and another completely alienated of his own will? Morton and Wendy were hardly the same either. Wendy was a lot jumpier these days and Morton barely talked anymore. Even Ludwig was suffering at the hands of crippling anxiety.

Nothing was the same anymore.

Ludwig had been right the entire time...and he hated it.

He let out a shout, swinging his fist back at the lamp on his bedside table. It toppled over with the blow, crashing to the floor and shattering the bulb inside. He then slapped his hands against his face, trying to keep himself from crying.

It really was Lemmy that had kept them all together in the other world. Lemmy had been the light in their darkness; the only one that truly had hope. Heck, he'd given his own life for that hope.

Now, it was up to his siblings to keep that hope alive.

Ludwig hissed shakily, sitting up and glancing at his desk.

If no one was going to believe them about the other world...they'd just have to try harder.

Ludwig vaulted off the bed, making for the desk and sitting down. He shuffled about his drawers until he fished out a piece of paper and a pen.

This was going to be his greatest manifesto...not a song, but a story. A story that desperately needed to be told...and believed.

He scrawled down his first thoughts quickly.

"This is a story about the light in the darkness. The story of one that never gave up hope, even when all seemed lost; when those that he loved had turned on him. This is the story of the strongest person I ever knew. This story is in memory of him."

Ludwig stared at the words for a moment, the reality of what he was doing flooding him with guilt. What made him think he had any right to tell this story?

He scribbled out the last sentence he'd written, gritting his teeth.

"This story is in memory of you; the memory of the story you wrote when no one else thought you could."

"In Memoriam Vos."

A/N: It...kind of feels surreal to finally be done with this trilogy. This trilogy is something that was in the works for six actual years. This took up a great big chunk of my life and most of my time in this fandom as a whole.

I want to take this opportunity to give out thanks to everyone. Thank you to the people that have been following this series since its first story released in 2015. Thank you to the people that have been following for years. Thank you to the people that just found this story today or sometime in the future and took the time to read it all through. Thank you to those that left reviews on this site and comments on the DeviantArt crossposts. Thank you to the ones that found the art I made for this series on DeviantArt and Tumblr. Thank you to the ones that *made* art for this series.

Thank you to the Koopalings fandom, who took my stupid creations under their wing and allowed me to soar.

All of you deserve the biggest thanks and I wouldn't have been able to come this far without all of you. 3

That said, this will be my final Koopaling-centric fanfiction, at least for a while. I have plans to return eventually, but what you see then will be markedly different that what I've done thus far. I want to take the time to reassess the way I portray these characters and do my best to give the very best content I can, but that means taking a step away from these kids for a bit. I hope that, when I come back, you'll still be here to greet me.

Cheers.